After I wrote Jesus Demigod someone on TikTok told me that I should read Caesar's Messiah by Joseph Atwill, because we had drawn very similar conclusions. So I watched a YouTube video called "Caesar's Messiah Full Movie" and I had found the final piece of the puzzle. By my own independent research, I concluded that Jesus was a fictional character, created from Greek philosophy, in response to the Roman destruction of the Temple in 70 CE, but I did not see all the connections that Joseph Atwill made specifically to the Flavian Dynasty of Caesar Vespasian and his two sons and Emperors Titus and Domitian. On this page, I want to share with you two key factors that I learned from Caesars Messiah that overwhelmingly support the idea that Josephus and the Flavian Dynasty were the originators of the Jesus narrative. I am not saying Josephus himself wrote Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, or any other canonical Christian book, but I am saying that the narrative of Jesus' life and death was a literary creation based on Josephus' writings, and the primary person responsible for the authorization of the narrative was Domitian. Domitian would have had the motivation and authority to Deify his brother and father who died and left the Empire in his hands. There is no evidence of Christianity actually existing prior to Domitian's reign, but Christianity does appear on the scene after Domitian's reign. The subsequent rulers of Rome, Trajan and Hadrian seem to be aware of a Christian cult, but only slightly. This is a logical result if Domitian authorized the creation of the Christian cult for the purpose of shutting down the Jewish expectations and Deifying his dead brother and father. Domitian was assassinated in the year 98 CE and Nerva ruled for one year followed by Trajan for 19 years and Hadrian for 20 years. It was not a peaceful transfer of power from Domitian to the next Roman Dynasty, so it is logical that the new Dynasty would not understand the intended purpose of Christianity under Domitian. Christianity had already been planted though and it was growing. The second century started off with two more Jewish Rebellions, called the Kitos War and the Bar Khokba Revolt under Trajan and Hadrian's rule. All the sudden, the new Roman Dynasty understood the need to shut down the Jewish religion. This would be the logical timeline for the need to push a new replacement religion on the Roman Empire that was specifically designed to bring Judaism to a close. They needed a final Jewish Messiah who could close the door on Judaism forever. After the bar Khokba revolt, Hadrian expelled the Jews from Jerusalem permanently. The Jews were only allowed to enter Jerusalem one day a year, for the purpose of mourning the loss of their Temple and their religion. The next step in the process of exterminating the Jews was to spread the message all throughout the Roman Empire that Judaism was finished. This is where "Paul" comes in. They needed a messenger to spread the news throughout the Roman Empire, and according to Acts 14:12, "they called Paul, Hermes, because he was the chief speaker." Hermes was the messenger of the gods. 

 

I said all that just to lay the ground work for my conclusions. Now I want to share with you those two key factors that I was impressed with when I read Caesar's Messiah. First, I was amazed at the sequential parallels between Josephus' War of the Jews with the gospel of Luke. I want to share with you some of those parallels here. Secondly, I was amazed at the parallels between the names of the characters between Josephus and Christianity. 

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Josephus and Luke Parallels

Joseph Atwill makes a list of 34 parallels between Luke and Josephus in Chapter 5-The Flavian Signature, in his book Caesar's Messiah. The gospel story is parallel to the Roman conquest of Israel in war. The stories are not only parallel, but they are also in the same sequence. There is no way this is just a coincidence. I will provide the citations so you can check the details for yourself, or just read Caesars Messiah for yourself. 

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In Galilee

1. Fishing for men at the Sea of Galilee (Luke 5:10, Wars 3, 10, 527)

2. Easier to say "get up and walk" or "your sins are forgiven" (Luke 5:18-26, Wars 3, 10, 532-539)

3. Healing the "right hand" on the Sabbath Day (Luke 6:1-11, Wars 4, 2, 92-104)

4. Cast out the supporters of the Son of Man (Luke 6:22, Wars 4, 5, 318-324)

5. John possessed by a demon (Luke 7:33-35, Wars 4, 7, 389-391 & 407)

6. The legion of demons (Luke 8:26-29, Wars 4, 7, 408)

7. Demons infect another group (Luke 8:31-33, Wars 4, 8, 419-421)

8. The herd ran violently (Luke 8:33, Wars 4, 8, 425)

9. The herd drowned (Luke 8:33, Wars 4, 8, 434)

10. Identification of the son of the living God (Luke 9:18-20, Wars 4, 10, 622)

11. Binding and loosing (Luke 9:18-20, Wars 4, 10, 628-629)

12. He who does not follow us, but still casts out demons (Luke 9:46-50, Wars  5, 1, 21-24)

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On the road to Jerusalem

13. The messengers are sent ahead (Luke 9:51, Wars 5, 1, 40)

14. Don't bury your dead or look back (Luke 9:59-62, Wars 5, 1, 41&50)

15. The good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37, Wars 5, 2, 50-51)

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Outside of Jerusalem

16. Knocking on the door (Luke  11:5-12, Wars 5, 2, 67-68)

17. The house of Satan divided against itself (Luke 11:17-20, Wars 5, 2, 71-73)

18. Man in armor who will be overcome (Luke 11:21-23, Wars 5, 2, 73-75)

19. The crowds increase (Luke 11:29, Wars 5, 2, 78)

20. Lying in wait (Luke 11:53-54, Wars 5, 3, 121)

21. The woe-saying Jesus (Luke 11:43-52, Wars 6, 5, 300-309)

22. Innocent beaten worse than the guilty (Luke 12:47-48, Wars 5, 3, 101-104)

23. Divide groups 3 for 2 (Luke 12:51-53/Luke 13:4-5, Wars 5, 3, 104-105/Wars 5, 2, 89)

24. Cut down the fruit tree (Luke 13:6-9, Wars 5, 3, 106-107)

25. The narrow gate and the shut door (Luke 13:22-30, Wars 5, 3, 128-135)

26. How to build a tower (Luke 14:28-30, Wars 5, 6, 258)

27. Send a delegation (Luke 14:31-32, Wars 5, 6, 261)

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Inside the city

28. The triumphal entry and the stones crying out (Luke 19:35-42, Wars 5, 6, 269-273)

29. Jerusalem encircled with a wall (Luke 19:43-44, Wars 5, 12, 499-501)

30. Drive out the thieves from the Temple (Luke 19:45-47, Wars 5, 7, 301-302)

31. The abomination of desolation (Luke 21:10-20, Wars 6, 2, 93-94, 109-110)

32. Son of Mary who was a human Passover Lamb (Atwill covers in detail)

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Outside Jerusalem

33. Three crucified, but one survives due to Joseph of "Arimathea" (Atwill covers in detail)

34. Simon condemned, but John lives on (Atwill covers in detail)

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The Name Game

Chapter 15 of Caesars Messiah is called The Apostles and the Maccabees. Joseph Atwill makes a strong case that Josephus was telling stories with the same character names in Wars of the Jews and the Christian narrative that were used in the Maccabean revolt narrative. Here is a quote from Joseph Atwill from Chapter 15, page 353,

 

"In Wars of the Jews there are nine Eleazars, three Jacobs (Jameses), six Jesuses, five Matthiases (Matthews), one Mary, four Mariammes, eight Johns, seven Josephs, ten Judases, and thirteen Simons.  In the New Testament the same pattern occurs: there are seven Marys, nine Simons, two Johns, two Josephs, four Judases, two Lazaruses (Eleazars), two Matthiases (Matthews), two Jameses, and at the minimum, three Jesuses."

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When you compare that list of names with the main characters in the Maccabean revolt, there is astonishing similarities. On page 354, Atwill says, 

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"The founder of the dynasty was Matthias (Matthew), who had five sons named Simon, Judas, John, Eleazar (Lazarus), and Jonathan." 

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Still on page 354 of Caesars Messiah, Atwill quotes Matthew 13:55, which says,

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"Is not this the carpenter's son? Is not his mother called Mary? And his brothers, James and Joses (Joseph), Simon and Judas?"

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You can either assume these were just popular names or you can entertain the possibility that the authors of these stories were retelling previous stories by reusing the same names. The more you know, the more you realize we are just reading literary stories, rather than historical records. The Bible story is the least likely story to be true, because the intended purpose and result for the Christian narrative was to  create a religion, with supernatural characters and abilities.